Triangle
by TobiLeFaye
Summary: What is a love triangle, really? Wouldn't it make more sense if each of the points connected to one another? And must it be love that connects them? Greed, Marta, and Dorochet are all caught up in the conundrum that is a love triangle. Rated T for now, may have to change later for some adult stuff.
1. Part 1

Started this last year, and I lost interest about 85% of the way through. But now, I've decided to resurrect it. It was my _Love Triangle_ theme in a 100 Themes challenge that I started and will probably never finish. Anyway, here ya go. Original anime (or first anime I suppose) plust 1st anime spellings and pronunciations except for Roa. Because I like it more than Loa.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, don't sue me.

_Triangle: Part 1_

* * *

_Freedom, at last._

Greed walked along the rocky mountain road, surrounded by his entourage of escaped prisoners. Greed could tell that the chimeras (plus the former state alchemists Tucker and Kimblee) were just as glad to be out of that god-forsaken lab as he was. They walked around him, looking up at the sky they hadn't seen in so long. He knew the feeling.

The sky above them was fading into the inky-grey that heralded twilight, and the air was growing cool. They'd been free for nearly a day now; walking southward towards a town called Dublith. Far, far away from the hell that was Central Laboratory #5.

"_Back to the beginning," _thought as he tried to remember the way. "_It's like I have a death wish or something." _

At first, the proximity he would be to that old hag concerned him, but it was better to be near enough to keep an eye on her.

He'd taken as many precautions as he could, surrounding himself with as many of the Lab 5 prisoners as would follow him. He'd also had Tucker, retrieve the skull from the bottom of his sealing chamber. Tucker had asked no questions but did as Greed commanded. It was a good excuse, Greed decided, to be as far away from Tucker as he could. His rasping voice and obsession with his dead daughter disturbed Greed, and even at this distance, Greed felt slightly enfeebled from the presence of the skull.

Greed relished the sound of the many voices around him. He'd been sealed for so long. The idea of so many willing to kill for his freedom he found oddly exhilarating. Not to mention that they all owed their lives and freedom to him. That satisfied Greed most of all. He smiled to himself as he delighted in the thought of so many indebted to him.

"It's getting late," one of the chimeras; he looked like a samurai from the east. He spent most of the journey thus far walking with two others, a blonde woman and another man, whom Greed guessed had been fused with an ox or something similar. The blonde woman caught Greed's attention, and he couldn't help inspect her body as she walked along. What he saw did not disappoint him.

"We should stop for the night," said someone from the crowd, and the company stopped. Several of them looked to Greed for an answer. He shrugged indifferently. In truth, he wished they could keep going, but he understood their needs. He couldn't expect them to live up to his endurance; they were all still at least half-human, after all. And besides, they hadn't just slept for a century and a half.

"Fine by me," said Greed.

So it was that a homunculus, two convicted state alchemists, and a handful of chimera found an empty field in the middle of nowhere and made as much of a camp that they could.

* * *

Several hours later, Greed sat at a crackling fire with a small group of chimeras and the Crimson Alchemist. The others were off in their own various groups around their own fire. Greed wasn't sure why he had been drawn to this particular group of chimera, but here he sat, studying each of the people around him, taking his initial impressions of them each in turn.

The group of three he had noticed earlier was there, sitting together across from him: the woman, the samurai, and the ox-man. The woman kept glaring at Kimblee for some unfathomable reason. The samurai and the ox sat beside her, and a small twitchy man sat on the other side of them. His long, reptilian tail flickered nervously with each pop of the fire. Kimblee was to Greed's right, rolling stones between his tattooed hands.

"So Greed, what do we do now?" said Kimblee, who apparently had become bored with his rocks. Anyone know any good drinking games?"

They all looked expectantly at Greed, waiting for him to speak. The silence was wearing on Greed's nerves; he'd had enough damn silence while he'd been sealed. Just as he finished surveying the group, an idea occurred to him.

"I've got a better idea."

The group all turned their attention to him, but not one of them said a word.

"You've all been to school right? Do you remember those ridiculous little games they made us play to get to know one another? Sure you do. Well, I've got my own little spin on it." Greed chuckled at his own pun and continued, "So does anyone have a gun?"

Kimblee handed Greed a gun he had pulled off one of the Lab guards. Greed took the revolver, pulled all but one of the bullets out of the chamber, and gave it a good spin.

"Now for the rules: when you get the gun, introduce yourself. Then, simply put the gun to your head and pull the trigger." Greed mimed shooting himself in the head with his fingers.

"If you live, give the gun to the next person who will advance the chamber and fire at themselves. If you lose, you die. See, simple. Who wants to go first?"

There was a general ascent to his game, with a hint of hesitation. Kimblee was the only one who looked thoroughly excited by the prospect.

The first to take the gun was the big guy, the ox.

"The name's Roa. Former special ops, originally from the north," said the ox-man.

"And what sort of chimera are you?" asked Kimblee in a mocking tone.

"I was combined with a bull," he said, his deep voice showing no fear.

Greed nodded; ox was close enough.

Without another word, Roa looked at the samurai, who nodded, put the gun to the side of his head, and pulled the trigger.

_Click._

The samurai and the snake-girl exhaled their held breaths.

"Good show. Nice to meet you, Roa."

Roa passed the gun to the samurai. His name turned out to be Dorochet and he was a dog chimera, and he too got lucky.

Now it was the blonde's turn. Greed paid more attention to her turn than he had the others': her being the only female in the group (the first Greed had seen in more than a century) was a fact he needed to be aware of. She had surprisingly voluminous lips, a round face, and severely short blonde hair, except for a wisp that jumped from her forehead and extended to her jaw. Greed was fascinated by the long chain of red tattoos that snaked up her right shoulder and onto her neck and cheek.

_I've always liked a woman with some ink. Damn sexy._

To Greed's surprise, she didn't even introduce herself before clicking the trigger against her head.

"Marta, snake," she said quickly. She slid the gun across the ground to Greed, who glanced up at her face, a devilish grin playing on his lips.

'_Sexy and confident, I like this one._'

A microsecond passed in which Greed and Marta made eye contact, and in that moment, Greed saw a flash of emotion. He smiled as her eyes darted away just as soon as they had met his. It was a feeling he knew all too well; it was his very existence, his soul defined. The flare of desire that had been dormant so long flickered in the pit of his stomach.

'_She wants me… and she's got it bad.'_

* * *

Part 2 coming eventually. I have it nearly written, but probably won't post until I have the third part written. Next week at the latest! (I promise)

~Tobi (formerly known as greedfreak)

Also, debating on Bido/Biddo's spelling. If you have preferences, tell me in the comments.

Gracias!


	2. Part 2

I had originally intended some sort of structure to this story, but*Throws papers up in the air angrily*WHO NEEDS STRUCTURE!

Here you are.

Triangle: Part 2

* * *

Marta swallowed the fear that threatened to consume her. Why the hell was she risking her life when she had only just escaped imprisonment? She had a new life within reach, and she puts a gun to her head for a few minutes of fun?

She had the gun in her hand before she knew what she was doing. She pulled the trigger quickly, and only after she realized she wasn't dead did Marta remember she was supposed to introduce herself. The remaining fear manifested itself in a cold and distant voice that recited her name and what animal she'd been combined with. Something made her look up as she slid the gun back to Greed. Her eyes moved almost magnetically to her rescuer's face. For the instantaneous second their eyes met, Marta's heart quickened in her chest, like that of an infatuated schoolgirl.

_Hold yourself together,_ she thought, disgusted with her own emotions. _You've known him for a whole twenty-four hours. He probably hasn't even noticed you._

"As I was saying. I'm Greed and true to my name, I want everything this world has to give me. You all are a start. I rescued you, yes, but not out of the feeling of brotherly love I have for you all. I did it because now you all owe me. I like you all, honestly. I think you have guts to have survived that hellhole. But don't go thinking I'm some kind of selfless hero. I saved you because it was the best way to save my own ass. I want to make that perfectly clear."

The others stared, stunned at Greed's audacity.

Marta instinctively grabbed Dorochet's hand as Greed brought the gun dramatically to his temple and pulled the trigger, expecting to relax after a relieving click

But there was no click, only the sound of a detonating bomb.

Marta gasped as blood and flesh exploded across the dirt. Kimblee, who sat directly in the line of fire, scrambled out of the way of the mess. Greed's limp body fell to the ground.

The others were frozen in horror. Blood gushed from the gaping wound where the left side of Greed's cranium had once been. Just like that, the man who had saved them all, who wanted everything, lay dead before them.

Marta gripped Dorochet's hand tightly and looked away. Gory images of fallen comrades flashed from her memory: one of her allies pulsing and screaming in agony, blood and other horrible fluids ooze from ever lengthening gashes: the rebound of an imperfect transmutation; a fellow soldier shot just for asking a question; . All of these memories haunted her, but nothing disturbed her more than the sight of a man, dead by his own hand.

An electrical hiss sizzled around Greed's body and Marta's gaze snapped back to the figure. The bleeding had stopped, but sinew and bone grew together over the wounds, skin wove itself back over Greed's reforming skull, and hair black as night burst quickly from new-grown follicles. Soon he pushed himself up off the ground, cracked his neck, and grinned more smugly than ever.

"Don't look so shocked, babe. I'm a little more durable than that."

Marta blanched at the word "babe," knowing it had been directed toward her, and quickly wiped the emotion from her face. She must have let her worry and shock slip through her barrier.

"Sorry, Kimblee," Greed said as he saw the blood staining Kimblee's prison garb. "I guess this ruins your turn." Greed handed the gun to the gore-covered alchemist.

"Oh, damn," Kimblee muttered sarcastically, trying to wipe as much of Greed's head off his clothing as he could.

"What are you?" Dorochet asked incredulously, absent-mindedly rubbing his hand where Marta's python-like grip had nearly crushed it.

"That is a very good question. I'm glad you asked. I should have explained before, as to not give anyone a heart attack. I'm a homunculus."

None but Kimblee reacted.

"Impossible," scoffed Kimblee.

"Really? After travelling together all day, you still dismiss the possibility of the impossible. Come now, Mr. State Alchemist; human chimera were supposed to be impossible, weren't they? Or have scientists revealed all the good stuff since I was last free."

Roa spoke, "When were you last free? We were in Laboratory 5 for fourteen years. How long were you in there?"

Greed smirked, and said his next words casually.

"I'd estimate it at about a hundred and forty years."

A silent whisper went around the circle. The rest of them seemed as doubtful as Marta felt.

All the others appeared just as shocked; Marta had heard correctly. Strange, Greed had been in Lab 5 ten times longer than they had.

"What'd you do to be in there for so long?"

Greed stiffened noticeable and changed the subject. "I should be asking you that? I can't imagine anyone _volunteering_ to become chimeras."

Marta, refusing to remain silent any longer, said, "We didn't volunteer for anything. The damned military lied to us. They imprisoned us after we followed their orders, and then they used us as lab rats." She made a point of directing as much of the malice in these words towards Kimblee as possible. She could never forgive anyone who called himself military.

Kimblee and Greed were both watching her with a certain appraisal. Kimblee appeared to be sizing up an opponent, while Greed looked at her like a meal. She ignored both of them and continued, "Our lives have been stolen from us. What the hell are we supposed to do now?"

Greed gave it some thought. "I guess I could have you all work for me. The rest of them know I've escaped, and they will definitely tell the old hag. The last thing I want is to be sealed again, and having a few numbers on my side wouldn't hurt my chances."

"What makes you think we'd just come and work for you?" Dorochet said cautiously. "You don't own us."

"Exactly!" Marta spat, "How do we know you're not just as bad as those psychos who turned us into chimeras in the first place?"

The air thickened with the tension between them; Greed continued to size Marta up, his expression unreadable, while she refused to meet his critical gaze with anything but an icy stare, even then refraining from making direct eye contact with the homunculus.

"Ok. If you don't want to come with me, fine. Go off on your own. See what happens when the military rediscovers their little escapees. You're not exactly normal anymore. With me, you can find sanctuary. I've spent my entire existence hiding from people in charge."

Greed made a good point, one that the chimeras and Kimblee couldn't argue with. None vocally assented to Greed's plan; they were still cautious of anyone but themselves, but neither did they reject the idea. Marta too was thinking over the idea. Greed was right; they had nowhere to go. Laboratory 5 had stolen their lives from them, and they could hardly go back to the military. Greed offered the only clear plan at the moment. And they did sort of owe him their freedom…

"With me or not, you should all get some sleep. We've got a long journey tomorrow," Greed said, standing and stretching.

The rest of the group followed suit, standing and brushing the dirt from themselves. As they all parted from the fire to find a place to sleep, Greed, and it may have been Marta's sleep-deprived brain making a small movement into something more, made to move toward Marta. Whether it was her imagination or not, Marta relaxed when Dorochet stepped between them.

"You're coming to sleep over with us," he said in a commanding voice that told Marta that he wasn't asking. Marta knew Dorochet didn't trust many of the chimeras here, and he especially didn't trust Greed or Kimblee. Dorochet was too connected to his canine persona, too loyal and too protective to let Marta near any of these strangers alone in the dark. They were thick as thieves, Dorochet, Roa and Marta. Dorochet would do the same for Roa, if Roa were any danger of being raped or murdered in his bed. Roa was lucky enough not to have Marta's temper.

So she settled down with Dorochet and Roa on either side of her. They camped beneath the boughs of tree. It did not take the rest of the chimeras long to settle into silence. The night was quiet, and Marta thought Dorochet's worry was unfounded. Marta fell into a comfortable sleep, the first one she'd had in years.

* * *

By the way, is anyone else as annoyed with the word chimeras as I am? Doesn't it sound like the plural of chimera should be chimera (like the plural of deer is deer). Maybe I'm just crazy.

Hope you enjoyed, Part 3 (though really it should be the second part of Part 1b, I'll explain my structure rant later) will be coming soon to a fanfiction near you!

Ciao!


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